Poetry Reading This Thursday Featuring My Friend, Aholaah Arzah and ME

Save the date! ;-)

On Thursday, January 13, Northwind Reading Series features Aholaah Arzah and Alison Hedlund.  The readings start at 7 p.m. in the Northwind Arts Center, 2409 Jefferson St.

Aholaah Arzah is a poet and artist living in Port Townsend.  She has published work in Seattle Voice, Poets West, Brussels Sprout, Clay Drum, Chrysanthemum, and most recently in Pitkin Review and Bellingham Review. She has shown her drawings and mono prints in galleries in Oregon and Washington and illustrated two books of poetry; Seatticus Knight by Ralph LaCharity and The Book of Jerusalem by Julia Vinograd.  She also illustrated an issue of Brussels Sprout and two of Jesse Bernstein’s poems for Swale. In February Aholaah will graduate from Goddard’s MFA program in Creative Writing.  She will be reading work from her thesis manuscript, “Such a parched craving always,” described by Michael Klein as “…just a gorgeous mediation on issues of politics, adoption and sense of place…”

Alison Hedlund met Aholaah through Port Townsend Community Options, where they work with developmentally disabled adults. She began writing poetry at the age of 15 and majored in English and creative writing at Michigan State University.  Her work has placed in a few contests: A Dyer-Ives Prize in Michigan, The Red Cedar Review at MSU, and Tidepools.  She participated in The Shape of Water reading and art exhibit, sponsored by the Port Townsend Arts Commission.

Along with family and work, poetry and music compete for attention in her life, though poetry is now moving ahead of music. For over 30 years, she has played fiddle for dances in old-time American and Scandinavian bands. She was a member of the Clover Blossom Band for 12 years, playing all over the Puget Sound area, and appears on their CD, Monday Night in Poulsbo. In the summer of 2010 she tutored Scandinavian fiddle tunes at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes.

Northwind readings are free, though donations are gladly accepted to support Northwind Arts Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the arts to our community.  For more information contact Bill Mawhinney 437-9081.